Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Aldershot Town 0

Vanarama National League, Tuesday 28th December

I was over at Victoria Road for game one of two on Tuesday afternoon and it saw an Angelo Balanta goal six minutes before the break seal a hard earned win for Dagenham & Redbridge to earn a third straight win and end Aldershot Town's recent unbeaten run.

The Daggers came into this game in ninth spot and just a point outside the play off places, and after a poor November which saw them lose three straight games, they have bounced back in December and have netted back to back league wins and could end the day just four points off top spot if results went their way, such is the tight nature of the league right now.

They welcomed an Aldershot Town side though who were in the midst of a six game unbeaten run which has seen themselves pull a six point gap between themselves in 17th and the final relegation spot in 21st, so they were looking to continue that unbeaten run and put further daylight between them and the bottom three sides in the division.

A decent crowd of 1,879 were in attendance too for this contest, including 286 hardy soles from Hampshire, and it was The Daggers who had the first effort after four minutes when Balanta found Junior Morais who drove to the by-line, cut inside onto his left foot before sending a low drive at goal, but Shots keeper Laurie Walker was equal too it.

And the Daggers created the next opening two minutes later when Balanta picked out Ibby Akanbi who looked to drive towards goal, but as he got into a shooting position he lost his footing and the chance was gone, and then the visitors saw Elis Watts fire wide down the other end although it was well off target and hosts keeper Justham had it covered.

Balanta was at the heart of everything The Daggers were creating going forward, and his ball into the box almost found Akanbi who just could not get a crucial touch, and the hosts were the side who looked the most threatening as the game reached the half way point of the first half, and a bizarre goal mouth scramble in the visitors box ended with The Shots getting the ball away just past the half hour mark.

Sam Ling then could only divert a Morais cross wide of the visitors goal, whilst a rare chance for the visitors saw Mikael Ndoji fire an effort into the stand behind the goal occupied by his visiting fans, whilst back down the other end a Will Wright cross onto the head of Akanbi could only see his effort go a couple of yards wide.

In the 39th minute though the breakthrough came as Yoan Zouma, who was having a superb game at the back for The Daggers, cleared a ball after winning another challenge and suddenly found Balanta in the clear and after shrugging off a couple of defenders superbly lofted a lovely finish over Walker and into the net to send the home fans wild and meant the Daggers had a slender lead to take into the break.

It was The Daggers who had the first attempt at goal early in the second period when Robinson saw an effort go straight at Walker, but chances were few and far between in the opening exchanges of the second period, with the next one a chance for the visitors just past the hour mark when a corner ricocheted off a couple of heads and looked to be going over Justham, but the keeper managed to cover his far post and gather.

The hosts then brought on Josh Walker with just over twenty minutes to go to try and inject a spark into the hosts front line, and he almost an immediate impact when forcing a decent save from Walker at his near post, but he should have scored moments later from a corner, somehow missing from point blank range at the near post. It was a huge let off for the visitors who then had probably their best chance of the game soon after when Justham had to be smart to save a Jordan flick finding the net. 

Into the last ten minutes then and more chances for The Daggers to seal the deal, firstly when Morais somehow side footed wide a cross from the left, and then Walker sent a first time shot into the side netting, and it meant the visitors remained in the contest, a contest they had hardly threatened in if truth be told. Could they punish the Daggers for their missed opportunities?

Well no, as after four minutes of stoppage time the final whistle blew and The Daggers had their third straight win in the league, taking them up a place to eighth and just a point off the playoff places, whereas Aldershot's recent unbeaten run ended disappointingly here, although they remain in 17th and six clear of the drop zone.

Full time Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Aldershot Town 0